No agenda has yet been publicly circulated for President-elect Donald Trump’s planned sit-down with tech company executives, but some likely topics for discussion could include cybersecurity, net neutrality, repatriation of overseas corporate profits and tech worker visas.
Among the executives reported to have received invitations to the get-together, set for Wednesday at Trump Tower in New York City, are Larry Page, CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet; Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon; Tim Cook, CEO of Apple; Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook; and Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.
A few of those invitees were repeatedly targeted for criticism by Trump during and even before the long 2016 presidential campaign. For example, during the FBI’s legal efforts to force Apple to unlock an iPhone seized after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. in December 2015, Trump called for people to boycott the company. The president-elect had even stronger words for Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, which had its press credentials revoked for awhile by the Trump campaign.
Tech Execs Generally Mum
Page, Bezos, Cook, Sandberg and Nadella all plan to attend Wednesday’s roundtable with Trump, according to a Recode report over the weekend that cited “numerous sources with knowledge of the situation.” Others also expected to join the discussion include Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco; Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM; Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel; and Safra Catz, co-CEO of Oracle.
“I plan to tell the [p]resident-elect that we are with him and will help in any way we can,” Catz said in a statement quoted by Recode. “If he can reform the tax code, reduce regulation and negotiate better trade deals, the U.S. technology industry will be stronger and more competitive than ever.”
Shortly after the election, Catz was reported to be under consideration for a cabinet…